Not a typical love story
by LovelyDemon
Summary: This wasn't anything like these typical love stories you read in books, they both knew that. One was dying and the other had a haunting past. How could this kind of thing even last? Broz. Will change to M. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Tittle: Not a typical love story. **

**Pairing: Broz (Break x Oz) **

**Rated: T (will change to M, you have been warned)**

**Summary: This wasn't anything like these typical love stories you read in books, they both knew that. One was dying and the other had a haunting past. How could this kind of thing even last?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pandora Hearts. Sadly.**

**Warning: Boy x boy, smut, angst, blood (Break's sick)... **

**A.N: So I'm starting this new story because lately, there hasn't been much Broz stories, aaaand I decided to write one myself again. Guys, I'm gonna jump right into the sadness, if you're ready to cry, then go ahead and read this! :D **

**Don't read if you don't like this. I don't need mean reviews. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Spending most of your life in fear wasn't the right way of living, yet it still happened. A lot of people couldn't imagine it, a home is where the heart is, right? No, to the young heir of the Vesalius dukedom it wasn't. Home was fear, sadness… he always felt weak and useless when he was home, only eight years old and already thinking like that. _

_Yet there was one that tried to brighten up his thoughts, the only person that tried was shouting at the person that made his life so horrible, not that the small boy could ever admit that his life was ruined, after all… spending years like this, listening to how filthy, useless, weak… you are makes you believe you are these things after a while. The small boy didn't even notice that, he had simply accepted the fact that his father would never love him as much as his mother did. _

_They were fighting again, his mother didn't know her son was standing outside, waiting next to the door, he had come to play some chess with her but his father had pushed him out of the way and walked into her room, he had heard his mother's kind voice asking who it was before stopping midway in her sentence when seeing it was her man. The man whom she had been forced to marry, the man whom she had started to love and he loved her back, until their first son was born. Zai had never believed that Oz was his son because the doctor had convinced them he couldn't impregnate his wife. A miracle had happened and he still doesn't believe it, only with his second child, a daughter that was peacefully sleeping in another room far away from her mother and brother. _

"You can't lock me up in this house forever! When will you ever understand that I am still your wife, and that thing, how you like to call him is your own son_!" she never cursed, for years she had never raised her voice until about a year ago when the doctors told her she had a terrible disease and she could only be saved if they went to the hospital right away, instead Zai let her stay at home and bear a child she did not want thanks to her body being too weak. Only their personal doctor was allowed to look at her and Zai didn't even care about his wife when she almost died when giving birth to little Aida, she had shouted at her husband to leave her and only let her son come to visit her and the head maid. _

"You're a selfish man!"

"I do not want to be called selfish by a whore,"

"I've always stayed loyal to you! I loved you!"

_Neither of them heard the silent sobs coming from the hallway, being too busy with fighting, Zai didn't care anyway, but his mother would have stopped if she knew Oz was outside, listening to them fight as he silently tried to hold back the tears. His eyes focused on the ground as he bit his pink lips, doing his best to be as quiet as possible while tears were rolling over his round cheeks. _

_Not a single servant looked up from their job, they just saw this is another day. _

"He looks just like any other Vesalius! In Heavens name, he has your eyes!"

"That thing is not mine, woman. You know that."

"Stop running from the truth!"

_That's when she started coughing again, horrifying sounds left her mouth as she did that, and the boy could already see the blood on her hands as she tried to hide her mouth behind them, he could already see the sweat on her forehead, her pale face, her blue lips, her hair that was once very neat now tied up in a very loose braid with hair hanging loose before her face, her eyes were red and she had bags under them. She had become a shadow of the proud woman she once was. _

Zai had broken her.

"You know this is only god's punishment because you went to bed with another man,"

"I… never…" _she tried to shout but her voice was hoarse and Zai knew he had won this battle, thanks to his wife's illness. He knew she wasn't allowed to raise her voice, she wasn't allowed to get angry, it was bad for her already weak heart. The man couldn't care less; the sooner she died the better._

"Think about what you've done_," with that, the duke left the room, not even looking into Oz's direction, the boy gazed at his father with big eyes, "_…Father… please…_" he silently begged, a sob escaping his mouth, Zai simply slapped his small and frail hand away, he didn't even waste his breath. _

"…O…Oz_?" Lady Cecile asked softly, she had to lean against the wall otherwise she would fall, her eyes were wide open when seeing her son standing in the hallway, "_Oh my…_" she finally broke down, never would she let Zai see her cry like this, but just seeing the look on her son's face made her feel like the worse mother ever, she collapsed on her knees and pulled her child in a hug, "_It's alright… mommy is here_," she spoke, gently stroking his blond hair. "_I'm so sorry, I love you._" _

_Only silent sobs escaped her child's mouth as he held onto her like the useless boy he was, she kept stroking his blond hair, she kept whispering how much she loved him, how she was so sorry, and he believed her. The only person he would ever believe for more then 100% was his mother. _

"Why did you come here?_" she then asked gently, wiping away his tears and smiling sadly at him, her eyes even more puffy thanks to her crying. _

"…No… n-no reason_," he answered, doing the same to her, wiping away her tears, smiling a bit when she laughed, happy that her son as well didn't want to see her cry. She gently picked him up, and the boy knew she wasn't allowed to do that anymore, but he also knew she didn't want to hear that so let her carry him through the long hallway, into the kitchen where a very worried Miss Kate greeted them, she took the small boy over and asked what was the matter. _

"You know what happened_," lady Cecile answered with a tired sigh and miss Kate told the other servants to leave as she prepared some tea for her mistress and for the small boy warm chocolate, the middle aged woman listened to her mistress's problems while they both enjoyed their warm drinks, Oz sat on his mother's lap and let her gently caress the bang out of his face as he drank from his cup. _

"It's not fair, Kate_." Rachel finally sighed, _"I'll…_" she covered her son's ears, "_I'll die soon… and there will be no one to protect my baby_," she continued with petting Oz's hair when she had finished her sentence, "_I wouldn't be surprised if that man…_" she furrowed her brows, eyes watering up again and the young woman had to hold onto her son very tightly, knowing well enough how much it must hurt to the small eight year old child, seeing his mother break down like this. _

"Perhaps it's time we should master Oscar?"

"Oscar?_" Rachel repeated the name; "_I haven't seen him for years…. Not since he and Zai fought about who would be the next heir_." _

"I'm sure master Oscar has forgotten about that, I heard his son didn't want to be the next heir anyway._" _

"Jack doesn't…?"

_The middle-aged woman shook her head, "_Now is perhaps the time to ask him for help, he could take care of the young master_." When mentioning Oz she kindly smiled at him, knowing that the boy was paying attention to their conversation. It was sad that they no longer tried to hide the truth from him; he knew what his fate was going to be the moment his mother died, but they both hoped that Rachel's body wouldn't give up without a fight. _

_Lady Cecile sighed, letting her head rest on Oz's shoulder, huffing into his ear, smiling a little when her son giggled softly, saying that tickled. "P_erhaps I should call him then_," she hummed softly, starting to tickle Oz's neck, feeling a bit better when her son started laughing. "_Ah you're so cute_," Rachel giggled and pecked him on his cheek, _

"Am not,_" the boy protested and wiped the kiss away, _

"Of course not, you're a man…. Men aren't cute, right_?"_

"I'm a knight,_" the boy answered, _

"So you are, my little knight_." Lady Cecile giggled as well, she then told him he had to stand up, which he did so that she could stand as well. "_Thank you, Kate."

"Anytime, mistress."

_Lady Cecile smiled at her most loyal servant and left the kitchen together with her son to call the brother of her husband, Oz had never even met the man, but she was sure they would get along well, Oscar was a bright and optimistic man that loved children, he had one son as well, Jack who must have been seventeen by then. There was a phone nearby the kitchen in the green tea room they had, there she called the man while Oz sat quietly on the green sofa, gazing at his mother's small frame, she had always been a small woman, but thanks to her illness she became even more skinny, she no longer wore the very rich clothes from years ago, instead wore a very loose green dress with no corset, there were bruises all over her body, thanks to her falling often. Zai never hit her; he only hurt her by words, which were in both mother and son's opinion way worse then actual beating. _

"Yes, can I talk to Oscar, please_?" she finally said after a while, looking over her shoulder to face her son, offering him a smile that said, '_It's going to be alright, let mommy take care of it_.' "_Yes, this is Rachel Cecile speaking_," she had since long given up the name Vesalius, instead went back to her own family name. "_Could you tell him this is very important_," _

_There was a silence again, and Oz had counted three times to 100 before his mother started talking again, she had looked at an invisible watch on her wrist many times and then looked at Oz, telling him they were sure taking their time, this had made the boy smile, his mother could be a goofy one sometimes. "_Oscar, yes it's me_." She then spoke, "_Yes, I know it has been a while…_" she laughed then, "_I am so sorry for not contacting you earlier_," silence. "_Ah yes, his name is Oz, he'll be the next heir_," silence. "_Oh, so the rumors were right? I'm sorry… Kate told me she had heard Jack didn't want to be the next heir, he has fallen in love you say_?" she glanced at Oz, "_Anyway, I'm calling for something else. Would… you like to visit? It's Zai, since Oz has been born he hasn't been acting the same anymore… not even with my second child_," she sighed and Oz could see she wanted to cry again, "_I just don't know what to do anymore, Oscar… please, come visit us. You must have heard of my illness right? … I'm scared what will happen to my child if I'm no longer around,"

"I'll be fine,_" Oz then said, smiling at her. _

"Of course, dear_." She answered, wiping away a tear, "_Thank you, Oscar_." She then returned back to the conversation with his uncle, "_Yes, thank you so much. I know it is a very selfish request, thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow._" _

_._

_Sadly, his uncle couldn't come the next day. Jack had gotten into a terrible accident and he had to stay home for his son, Rachel had accepted that, she had wanted to visit her brother in law instead then, but Zai wouldn't let them leave the house. _

_And when Oz finally got to meet his uncle, it was at his mother's funeral not a week later, she had fallen off the stairs and her body had been too weak to survive the great fall. _

"_Oz, right?" his uncle had walked to him, he must have been somewhere in his early thirties, next to him stood his wife, Sarah. She was crying softly while holding hands with her son, Jack who had bandages around his right arm. "_I'm Oscar, your uncle._"_

"Nice to meet you,_" Oz had greeted him with a small bow, _

"We're very sorry for not coming sooner_," Oscar then sighed and kneeled down so that he was almost on the same eye level as his cousin. _

"It's alright…"_ Oz easily shrugged it off, he felt numb. He still couldn't understand that his mother was no longer here after all, his little sister who was only two months old didn't even had the chance to get to know her, she didn't know what an amazing mother they had. _

"You poor thing_!" Sarah finally said and let go of her son to pull the small boy into a tight hug, she gently stroked his hair, yet it still didn't feel the same like when his mother did it. Yet he still accepted the hug, _

"We know we haven't been a very great family, but we'll do our best to make it up. Okay_?" Oscar gently patted the boy's head, he glanced at his son, Jack kneeled down as well, so when his mother finally let go of his cousin he could give him a good look, he smiled calmly at Oz, "_Hello there_," he spoke, ruffling his hair. _

_Finally the boy's mask dropped, he could no longer hold back and wrapped his small hands around Jack's neck, crying loudly into his cousin's arm, Jack didn't even complain about his broken arm, he simply held the small body and when he stroked his hair his touch was almost the same as his mother._

* * *

It had been the birds waking up way too early and chirping loudly that woke the teen up, he sighed while blinking a few times, eyes getting used to the bright light. His neck felt sore thanks to him falling asleep in the wrong position, he was still sitting on the wooden chair and his head was resting on his arms while he leaned on the bed from a friend,

"Such an uncute brat," the young man said while looking up from the newspaper he had been reading, "Both of you," he then nodded to the young man on the other side of the bed, he was still fast asleep.

The boy pouted while glaring at the man, "Honestly Break, we were worried you know."

"I'm perfectly fine, there's no reason for you two worrying." The hatter sighed and looked back at his literature, nothing interesting had happened lately. "Speaking of worry, what were you dreaming about?"

"Huh?"

"You were talking in your sleep," the albino answered, a soft cough escaped his mouth before he could hold it back but luckily there was no blood on his hand, even though he was already very ill, having since long passed the phase where you could still be saved. Yes, this man sitting right in front of him had the same illness as his mother, probably one of the reasons why Oz worried so much about him. "I forgot…" Oz answered with a sheepish grin,

"How uncute," Break sighed then, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Well then, I suppose you two idiots called Sharon?"

"We had to! She deserves to know it when you collapse!" Oz protested then, knowing that Break didn't like it when he called his younger sister, well… sort of, he was adopted after all. The young man rolled his single red eye, the other had turned blind thanks to his illness and had started rotting in his own skull so they had to remove it, therefore he let his hair grow, making only the half of his face visible. "Brats, these days."

"You're saying that, yet you're only two years older than me." Gilbert spoke while yawning, the two of them had woken him up, he rubbed the sleep out of his golden eyes. "And also, five centimeters shorter."

"It's 4,5, don't change the facts," Break answered while smiling evilly at him,

Oz laughed softly while watching the two of them have their little argue, his gaze softened when gazing at Break, heart beating a little bit too fast, other then that he was perfectly fine.

Though he remembered that horrible dream, and gently took Break's hand, like his mother had always done to comfort him, it made both Gil and Break shut up and watch how the boy let his head rest against the pale hand, they both heard him sigh while closing his eyes.

"A memory, I assume?"

The boy nodded,

"I won't die that easily, Oz-kun." Break chuckled softly,

"I know..."


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so at the moment I'm really motivated to work on this story... Since there aren't much Break X Oz fanfictions, which is a shame since these two can be really cute ^^ **

**Now, if anyone thinks I'm going a bit too fast or you didn't get anything... Please do tell me. **

**Also Spelling errors as well, please tell me if you find any. **

**Now a little about the characters that I would like to say, I put both Break and Oz in some sort of the same situation, so that it's kind of easier for me (lol) to make them so close... To have a good reason for them to be so close. Also, this is an AU... While I do my best to keep them in character, keep in mind that since all the abyss stuff didn't happen, they both had different pasts so things that made them change in the manga did not happen in this story... Therefore, there is no reason for them to act like something happened if it did not happen... Following me? No? Sorry ^^ if you somehow are following me... theeeen good! **

**Tell me if you think they are OC. It's fine, I might explain to you why they would do something like that... Or I might change it. Depends on what you say. **

**Just tell me if anything bothers you. I like discussing about these things! **

**And Reviews are also awesome!**

**(Also, I haven't re-read it completely, I will come back to give it a proper check. Sorry for the bother) **

* * *

"Don't you think it's about time?"

It was strange how many times people had forgotten that Oz had this awful talent, one that made him always pass by a group of people or a door when people were talking about him. It wasn't like he wanted to, it just always happened. Right now he knew they were talking about him in Lady Sherly's office. The Vesalius had spent most of his time at the Rainsworth mansion, since there was no one waiting for him at the Vesalius mansion with the exception of miss Kate, but she has been too busy lately so he barely talked to her. The Rainsworth people didn't even question it when they suddenly saw him talking with Sharon, it was Sharon whom usually invited him anyway. And Gil, as his personal servant went along.

Not today though, she was at school in Latowidge academy and would only come back at the end of next month when summer vacation would start. For now he was here for Break, the clown had said he was allowed to come by any time and lady Sherly rather liked it when the boy was around the clown anyway because he was one of the few people that knew what to do when Break suffered from his illness again. For now the hatter was okay, so much was obvious as he was talking with some other people in Lady Sherly's office. The boy had recognized Reim's voice, also the Rainsworth's personal doctor's voice and Gil's.

"They're getting worse again," Gilbert agreed with Reim whom had asked if it was about time, "We should probably give them back."

"Of course, but knowing Oz-kun he won't take them anyway." Break then answered, and Oz could hear the sound of him picking up a small bottle and shaking it, it made that familiar rattle sound that he hated so much. He knew what they were talking about, and his eyes became sad. "He threw them away the last time," _Oh so they noticed, _

"Perhaps we should just let him stay away from Xerxes," the doctor then said, the whole room went quiet when he said this, "We know it's because lately his illness has become worse that Oz-sama is starting to worry again, it's the stress that makes him remember again."

"The memories he tries so hard to forget…" Break then hummed, throwing the bottle with medicine to Gilbert, Oz could hear this because Gilbert cursed rather loudly. "Dammit Break, what if it fell on the ground!"

"I knew you would catch it," the hatter chuckled apathetically, "Besides, we all know how stubborn the brat will be. He won't accept that, he'll still come to visit me. Unless I tell him to stay away, _which would mean_…"

"...Making things only worse," Reim concluded.

"That would be troublesome," Lady Sherly sighed, to which Break hummed in response and Emily cackled a '_very troublesome_', "Also, I do not lie. If I would have to tell Oz to stay away he would want a good excuse, he wouldn't accept a '_it's for your own good_', since he actually doesn't do any harm to me. I rather like the brat's presence."

"Then what can we do? He might fall back if this continues," Lady Sherly said very worried,

"He'll have to take the medicine it keeps being like this, if the memories and nightmares stay away then everything is fine."

"We've waited long enough," the head of the Rainsorth household, sighed, "The poor boy's body won't be able to take this much stress any longer,"

"We'll have to tell him then," Gilbert mumbled, he didn't sound like he liked the idea of telling his friend, the person whom he had promised to stay by his side forever to tell him, he had to take these awful pills again that kept the dreams away, they only made him tired and slower than usual, he would almost every time doze off and having a serious conversation with the boy would be hard. He forgot a lot of things as well and got confused easily. They had many bad side effects, but the stress would be gone… but he would have to take it everyday, otherwise the nightmares would be ten times worse.

"It's for his own good," the doctor said, handing someone the medicine. That person had to tell it, and Oz could already guess who that person was going to be.

Oz sighed, he was a bother again. This always happened, why couldn't the dreams just stay away? He had since long ago accepted the past; he tried his best everyday to familiarize himself to every situation, to accept everything that happened to him and get over it. Just look forward to the future… yet these haunting memories kept coming back.

The door then opened and the boy's eyes widened in surprise, he had been too lost in thoughts again, the doctor was the first one to walk out of the room, talking over his shoulder, wishing them good luck. While he said this Oz easily took a few steps back so that he could hide behind a large wooden closet. His back leaned against the cold wood and he held his breath, not even a sigh of relief escaped his lips, he was already happy enough that thanks to the doctor not paying too much attention to his surroundings and talking a bit longer that he could hide without anyone noticing, he couldn't waste that luck.

"Ah poor Gilbert-kun, has to tell the bad news to his beloved master _again._" Break said from inside the room, while Oz listened to Gilbert leaving with the doctor and Reim pushing lady Sherly's wheelchair.

Break was the last one to walk out of the room and he chuckled, "It's not polite to eavesdrop, you know." he hummed,

"Eavesdropping, brat." Emily said, their voices were hushed to make sure no one could hear them.

Knowing he had been caught anyway and hiding wouldn't help him anymore he slowly walked into sight, giving the older man a sad smile, "…I just happened to walk in,"

"As always,"

The boy let out an awkward laugh while rubbing the back of his head,

"Ah well, since you're here anyway." The hatter chuckled and got something out of the small brown bag he always carried around and threw it at the Vesalius; by the sound of it Oz could hear it wasn't what he thought it would be. He easily caught it and when opening his hand he was surprised to see it was a mint-flavored candy, Break didn't like them but Oz did…. The boy smiled softly when seeing this.

How could he have forgotten that Break knew how awful taking medicine was after all.

* * *

There was a long silence; Oz just kept gazing at the brown bottle with pills in it, the one that Gilbert was holding up for him. His eyes were slightly narrowed. God, how he wished that if he perhaps gazed long enough at the bottle it would disappear. Sadly, he could do no such thing and finally, with a long sigh accepted the bottle. Surprising the taller man sitting across from him, he dropped the bottle so that it fell into the boy's hand, he watched with golden eyes how Oz closed his fingers around it.

"It's for your own good…" Gilbert spoke, he had prepared a whole speech with Reim, they had both thought Oz would say _he didn't need it, that he was fine, that it was perhaps some stress because he had to study way too much thanks to him being the next heir_. They had gone through all the excuses Oz could use, they hadn't even thought about Oz just accepting the bottle.

"I know. Thank you." Oz responded, glancing at the clock, he had hid with Break most of the day, Break had left the room only half an hour ago, he had said he was tired but just by the way he was leaning on his cane Oz could tell he was suffering.

Gilbert had walked in ten minutes later and had found the boy dozing off on the sofa he sat on, he had woken up the boy and first they chatted a bit before Gilbert finally brought up the boy's nightmares.

"Do… you want something to eat before you take them?"

"No… it's fine," the boy sighed, putting the bottle in the left pocket of the green shorts he wore.

"Uhm… if you don't mind, would you like to take them now?" Gilbert asked,

Oz pouted when hearing that, "What? You don't trust me?" he chuckled,

"It's not… that… well…" Gilbert sighed, honestly not knowing how to say this, because yes he actually didn't trust Oz when it came to taking his medicine. The boy knew what these pills did to him, he hated them. His memories were way too vague then. For a while the Vesalius just gazed at him with his big green eyes before finally sighing, taking the bottle out of the pockets of his pants, holding it up right in front of Gilbert before opening it and taking one of them out. He seemed confident until he parted his lips and held the thing right before his mouth…

"…Oz?"

"I don't like them," the boy finally sighed and let the hand that held the small medicine rest on his lap, this was actually the first time that he admitted such a thing. He usually said he was alright or that he would take them later, but he never complained about actually disliking them.

"You know what happens when you don't take them, right?"

"I'll be fine… that was years ago… I'm fifteen now."

"Oz, you were ten. That was only five years ago."

"I'm older now!" the boy sounded so desperate it surprised Gilbert, "Sir Peters had kept an eye on you, you're changing again. I know how much you hate the medicine, but I also know how much more you hate going back to being the person you were then."

The person he was back then… He sighed, knowing well enough what had happened back then and no way in hell was he going back to being _that person… _Yet, they didn't know how much more awful it was to take these pills than the nightmares. To have many thoughts on your mind but not being able to tell them properly because it took hours before his mouth realized it had to open... Or how much he hated it when he tried to remember something someone told him but he couldn't because these pills messed with his memories, that was their job after all... Keep away the bad memories that caused all the stress... But they also took the good ones.

"Oz?"

"It's fine," the boy finally said and took the medicine, he didn't even use water. He smiled softly at Gilbert, closed the bottle and put it back in his pants. "I'm heading to bed,"

"Want me to go with you?"

"I still have half an hour, right?"

Gilbert nodded, then the medicine would start to work.

"I'll be fine," with that the boy left, walking fast.

.

Gilbert was a fool for not coming with him. Anyone that paid a little attention would have noticed it wasn't right, unlike the doctor Gilbert believed him. He didn't ask to open his mouth and lift up his tongue.

It was a very stupid trick, Oz though as he threw the white medicine outside. He closed it and crawled into bed.

* * *

"He didn't throw it away this time?" Reim asked the hatter,

Break closed the window of the room next to Oz, having followed the teen the whole time to keep an eye on him. "Surprisingly, _he didn't_." the hatter easily _lied_, giving his friend a kind smile as he got up and walked out of the dark room.

Reim nodded, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth. "Do you think it's only his mother's death that made him like this?"

Break hummed when hearing that, glancing at the door of the boy's door, the lights were out and the boy was probably sleeping, it wouldn't take long before the nightmares would come. He wondered if anyone would notice. "There's always a more _sick_ and _twisted_ story behind this kind of behavior," he finally spoke. He kept walking and ignored Reim who stopped when hearing such a thing.

After all, only if you had some experience you could see the hints the boy left behind him without knowing. The way he reacted when someone mention duke Zai… the way he would sometimes walk when he came home and Zai was at home as well.

The sad part was of course… that one was allowed to find out, not only because the boy didn't want anyone to find out but also because it could make the whole Vesalius dukedom fall if anyone found out what happened behind closed doors.


	3. Chapter 3

**Who's still reading this story? :D **

**Anyway, sorry for the wait. Here's a new chapter... Sadly, it's a filler ^^ you'll have to wait for the Broz. **

* * *

He woke up before the scream escaped his lips; his eyes were wide open as he sat up while gasping for air. He looked around the dark room, it took the small boy a good five minutes before he finally realized he had just woken up, he was no longer at home, he was no longer with Aida, no longer with his father in the library. He let out a sigh, not sure to feel relieved or hate himself even more that he just couldn't keep the memories locked up in the back of his head, somewhere where he couldn't reach them.

It wasn't the nightmare that woke him, was it? He realized this when noticing the other two people in his room, both sitting on either side of his bed, one seemed relaxed and was humming softly while the other whom sat the closest to him wiped the sweat of Oz's face, it surprised him that he hadn't even noticed this. "-Who?" he managed to utter out, still being somewhere between 'dreaming' and 'reality'.

"You never took the medicine?" Gilbert's voice sounded so tired, but not as in he had just woken up, he was just tired of Oz making promises that he couldn't keep, he was tired of trusting Oz and always ending up disappointed, in the back of his head, he could hear a voice screaming 'You simply don't understand', yet it still had hurt the Nightray to hear his friend scream, Oz might have stopped this scream, but he hadn't stopped the first one.

"I…" he coughed, he felt like something was choking him, Gilbert noticed this and unbuttoned a few buttons from the boy's shirt, it helped a little. The other person handed him a glass of water, still silent but the teen had gotten used to the dark and easily recognized Break. He muttered a silent thank you.

"Perhaps, you'd like to talk about it?" Gilbert then said, "If you don't take your medicine, at least talk about what's bothering you?"

"It's just-"

"And don't give me that excuse of it just being 'stress'."

"It really is," Oz protested then, lowering his head a bit because he felt ashamed that not only had he just betrayed the raven's trust, now he was already raising his voice towards him. Gilbert didn't deserve any of this. "It's really is just stress, soon I'll have to walk into my father's footsteps… so…"

He got interrupted by Gilbert gently ruffling his hair, making him look up and in the dark, he could vaguely see his eyes, he offered Gilbert a weak smile, not sure if the Nightray could see, well the raven usually always seemed to find his way through the dark… perhaps his eyes were better than Oz's?

"Break, I thought you kept an eye on him," the taller male then glared at the hatter whom had kept quiet for now, Break, simply shrugged and let himself fall on the bed, a sigh escaping his lips. "Must have done it when I wasn't paying attention,"

"Honestly," Raven shook his head, he looked away… at the clock that hang on Oz's wall, his eyes had always been better in the dark so yes, Oz had guessed it right. Gilbert could see pretty well in the dark. In the mean time he couldn't see the teen glancing at Break and seeing the hatter giving him a meaningful smile.

"It's only past three in the morning, I'd suggest you'll go back to sleep then."

The teen nodded, he would have laid down if not for Break already lying down, the blond frowned.

"Break. You're not staying." Gilbert said,

"Oh, what a pity. Here I thought Oz-kun liked my company," when saying this the hatter glanced at Oz with a teasing grin, but when the boy simply gazed at him, not knowing how to answer he simply shrugged and got up as well. "Very well then, be sure to keep your mouth shut now. You're lucky only Gilbert-kun and I woke up." Even though he had been the last to stand up, he was the first to leave to room, with Gilbert following him. The Nightray shut the door behind him another sigh escaped his mouth, "Honestly, I don't know what to do anymore."

"Just let the kid be," Break easily waved it off as he slowed down a little without the other male noticing, Gilbert said his goodbye and headed to his own bedroom so that he didn't notice Break suddenly having to stop and letting himself almost fall against the wall while having to hold back something that wanted to escape his mouth for a while now, the only reason why he had kept so quiet. He was grateful for the darkness as he felt the blood drip down his chin. "Honestly," he sighed tiredly, the only reason why he had heard Oz was because he woke himself up with the feeling that he had to vomit, it made him chuckle though... The brat wasn't the only one keeping secrets.

* * *

Everyone had their own secrets, some were worse than others… but nonetheless; neither Oz nor Break weren't the only ones that hid behind a masker. Yet, they had both the same kind of secret, their secrets made them sick, they both had to take medicine for it, they both didn't want anyone to know yet almost everyone close enough knew. Perhaps it was because of that reason why they got so along, not simply because of the reason lady Sherly liked to have Oz around because he was one of the few people that knew how to treat Break's disease. Oz was one of the few that knew not only medicine helped, simply because his mother had told him everything, she had all spit it out once, telling her son whom was too young to know everything. But Oz had only listened while gently playing with her long curly hair, the same hair Aida now had, only hers was brown. There were times when you could easily hide the pain because it warned you, your body slowly started to hurt, giving you enough time to leave and suffer somewhere else, but there were times where it suddenly came from out of nowhere and then you could just collapse from all the pain.

He remembered everything she told him, had told him when you could see someone would die from the disease. It often wasn't the disease, though that killed the many victims, it was usually when they collapsed and their body no longer had the strength… that's what happened to his mother, she had fallen off the stairs and her body had just given up.

It was what Oz was so afraid of now, Break had always been lucky enough that there's always someone keeping an eye on him and close enough to stop the fall, but there would come a day that the hatter had no one around him at the moment and he could fall…

It was an old disease and many had even forgotten it existed, since it was so rare. Only one in the so many saw it, yet Break was Oz's second person already.

Of course the boy knew that once you reach the second phase, there would be no way that you could be saved. The disease had taken over your whole body and only painkillers could get you through the rest of your life. It included a lot of pain, tiredness, dizziness, coughing…

Because people didn't know much about the disease, they simply called it 'The punishment of the Abyss', once you did something bad the Abyss would punish you, which was the reason why his father suddenly turned against his mother-

"What are you reading?" Gilbert asked, having returned with some tea for the boy and himself,

"A book,"

"Obviously," Gilbert sighed and rolled his eyes, he put the two cups on the coffee table and sat down next to his friend, gaze falling on the book… "Why are you reading this?"

Oz shrugged in response and simply closed the book, because honestly, he didn't know. He had just opened the book, one of the few books that mentioned this illness. Perhaps he'd find something out? Who was he kidding… he sighed and carelessly threw the book on the coffee table. Knowing that Gilbert gave him a worried look as he did that, but for now… he just wanted to stop thinking about everything for a second. Just one second.

But of course, the moment he let himself drift off to sleep, he could already hear her, shouting his name, begging for him to open the locked door of her bedroom. Father had locked her up again.

Gilbert woke him up before he unlocked the door, his eyes met the worried golden eyes of his friend, "Are you alright?" he asked worried,

"Yeah, I'm fine."

_Lying was obviously better than telling the actual truth._

Both Break and Oz agreed to that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Surpriseeeeee! :D here's a new chapter :p **

**I'm really motivated to work on this story for the moment, thanks to the new chapter. Don't ask me why. (_It's because it looks like Break's state is getting worse and since Break is sick in this story... well ya know_.)**

**i don't own pandora hearts. **

**Reviews make me smile :D **

**Btw: For those that watch BBC Sherlock, I made a Sherlock reference in this chapter :p good luck finding it. -It's very obvious actually? **

* * *

People often liked to push you to the edge, they want to see your mask slowly crumble, they want to see that last spark of joy fade away in your eyes as your smile changes into a frown. People were like that. The boy had seen it happen more then enough. At parties after his mother's death, he could remember them talking about him. He remembered what it was like to feel like a hunted animal, the hunters were dressed in dresses and suits; they walked around and left a scent of wealth behind them.

Smiling in his face while actually, they were waiting for the moment he'd embarrass himself, so that the Vesalius dukedom could fall. He still knows what it feels like to carry all these responsibilities. Not even in his own house was he safe, some might say that was the reason why he stayed so often at the Rainsworth mansion, because there, people accepted him. No one wanted him to feel ashamed of his own existence, they knew the things that Zai claimed to be Oz's fault, weren't his fault at all.

While the young Vesalius actually put all the blame on himself, years ago it had come to such a point he had to lock himself up in his room, he could no longer put a mask on. They didn't seem to fit, the mask dropped as soon as someone said something bad to him.

He had been ten years old, perhaps a bit older, no one really knew when it happened, neither when it stopped, it had come and it had left. But people still remembered what it was like to see him in that kind of state, to see a young child fall like that. He had fallen deep and it seemed like he could never crawl out of that pit.

It had been his cousin, Jack that saved him. He was the one reaching his hand out to the young boy. He was the one that dragged him out of his room, took him to his uncle's house and played with him for the whole day. They walked through the rose garden that Jack loved so much; he talked about Lacie, her two younger sisters whom he would introduce Oz too. "_Because having friends that are around your age is more fun,_" he introduced Oz to Gil, to Sharon… they had only seen a bit of the Oz from back then, Jack had already cured the most of him. They didn't know how bad it was before they met him.

Oz turned back to his usual kind self, so everyone thought. The boy had just taught himself to hide it even better; he had learned to live with the pain. He had simply accepted everything.

Horrible isn't it? How Humanity can break that last spark of hope in you? A ten year old had stopped believing in the light, how low had we fallen?

It happened a lot actually that Oz would lose himself in his own mind, there were no happy thoughts in his mind palace, only dark thoughts came back, they locked up all the happy memories, somewhere far away where he couldn't reach them… making him feel even worse. He had tried to ignore them, to push them away… but they always came back, and the good thoughts always lost the fight. It was a wonder that he still managed to be cheerful every day since; it was a miracle that he hadn't fallen back into the pit.

The same was for Break, he knew about the man he was before the Rainsworth household took him in, it was a mystery how he kept himself up, after everything that happened to him… he'd probably thought he deserved the disease he had.

Yet both their eyes kept dry. They both carried a smile around…

Today wasn't any different.

The Rainsworth household was crowded, and a rather annoyed looking Hatter was leaning against the balcony while chewing on a lemon flavored candy, next to him stood Sharon, smiling, because Break was terrible at dealing with brats.

School vacation had started a week ago, but everyone had been too busy at their own houses, now that everyone had some free time they had all accepted Sharon's request to visit her home, not just to see each other again but also since it had been a while for almost everyone that they saw Oz. He was the only person in their group of friends that had home school, something he lately skipped since he spend most of his time at the Rainsworth household, luckily he studied a lot himself and he always had Gil to help him.

Right now Alice was telling the brat a story about how she got almost everyone in trouble for a midnight snack, Elliot looked like he still hadn't forgiven her about that while Leo and Aida had to hold back their laughter, even Gilbert shook his head while smirking a bit.

While they were busy with catching up, Sharon glanced at the older male. "Grandmother told me your disease has become worse," she softly spoke, making sure that no one was paying attention.

"Did she say that?" the hatter hummed while smiling like the clown he was, "Hmm, she worries too much. Nothing really has changed,"

She nodded, "What about Oz-sama?"

"Oz-kun?"

"I've heard about the nightmares," she said,

Break shrugged, the doll on his shoulder kept quiet, lately Emily hadn't said much actually. People often forgot about her actually, little did they know that Break had become too tired to still control her, only Oz and Sharon had noticed it so far, Reim knew more than enough and didn't pay attention to the doll anymore, he paid more attention to Break himself. "Lady Sherly had kept in touch, I see."

"Break," she sighed, "_Please, don't leave me out of this_." It was obvious the clown hadn't seen that one coming as he glanced at her with a rather surprised look on his face, before his face became calm again and a kind smile appeared on his face, this was one of those moments where he once again realized that Sharon was growing up, everyone was growing up around him and it actually made him wonder where the time has gone. "Oz-kun refuses to take his medicine, so the Nightmares keep coming." He then admitted,

"I thought you promised to take care of that?"

"So I did,"

That was all the girl needed to hear, she nodded and turned her gaze back to her friends, they were now listening to Oscar, telling them about Oz's little adventure in Lebleux and how he got lost and got into trouble, while the poor boy tried to make him shut-up, his face all red. The others were already laughing, and the story had only just started because little did poor Oz knew that Oscar had been following him and had seen how the boy had first tried to wait and how a strange woman started hitting on him,

Sharon, then glanced back at Break, eyes widening a bit when seeing the look in his eyes. She had never seen him wearing an expression like that, it was strange to see that look on his face while he gazed at a very flustered Oz. The small girl furrowed her brows, the look on her adopted brother's face was familiar, though, she had seen it once before, it was the same expression Jack always had on his face when he was gazing at Lacie.

Break wouldn't look at Oz like that while knowing others could see it, though the only person that could possibly see him gaze at the boy like that was Sharon, needless to say, the girl was flattered to see he let his mask slip in her presence. She smiled calmly while glancing at Oz as well, seeing him chuckle awkwardly when Elliot asked if it was true that the Vesalius had really become a stuttering mess when the woman still didn't give up on trying to flirt with him.

"Would you like me to help you?" she then asked,

Break started laughing when hearing that, surprising Sharon. Of course she should have known that unlike Jack, Break wouldn't become nervous after being caught gazing at someone like that. After all, the hatter knew about her presence and knew she could see him. He actually thought it was amusing Sharon wanted to help him, "It would be wrong on so many levels if I even tried," he snickered, as if she had just said something stupid.

"B-but…" she blushed when hearing this, "Age doesn't matter when it comes to love!"

Break ruffled her hair, "You haven't seen the world like I did," he smiled kindly at her, a very mature smile… which made the girl's heart skip a beat. Her eyes widened as she gazed into the single red one eye of Break, she gulped and breathed out his name… those words and Break's smile told her more than enough.

"Are you two done flirting?" Oscar laughed, walking outside as well, holding a cigarette between his middle and pointer finger of his right hand, "Geez, kids."

Break laughed when hearing this, "My, my, can't your old eyes stand the sight of young love?"

"Old!? I'm old." Oscar gave the clown an evil smirk, "Watch your tongue, Break." he evilly laughed,

"B-Break!" Sharon awkwardly stuttered after Break didn't deny what the older man had said, she knew it was just to tease her but Oz could misunderstand! She hurriedly glanced at said boy and saw the amused look on his face, he didn't seem troubled by at all… which made her feel kind of sad, if he wasn't bothered about this that meant Break was just a friend. Though Break didn't seem bothered about it all…

This wasn't anything like the love stories she had read about.

* * *

"Go back to the Vesalius mansion?" Oz repeated the words of his uncle,

"Of course, you can't stay here forever." Oscar nodded, "You can't bother them the whole them, also… we've been canceling your class for a while now, those men get paid you know."

"We can teach him," Sharon protested, "Gilbert-san has been teaching Oz for a while now!"

"Gilbert isn't a real teacher," Oscar smiled at her, "Sorry," he then glanced at the tall raven, the man simply shook his head saying he wasn't hurt by that at all, Gil knew he wasn't a teacher, he knew that he didn't know as much as a real teacher.

"Well he hasn't really been bothering us," Break finally joined their the conversation, a smile on his face while he placed his almost empty cup back on the table. He glanced at the boy they were talking about, their eyes met and for a second he saw a hint of hope in Oz's eyes, the boy didn't want to go back. But as soon as that little spark had come, it left. It was obvious, Oscar didn't want Oz to come back either. Zai must have said something; they could get into serious trouble if they kept Oz away from him. It would be better for Oz if he just went back and come back later then stay a bit longer and never being able to come again, it happened before.

"Well, it has been a while since I last saw Miss Kate," Oz then agreed, sighing. "I actually miss her cooking skills," he hummed and faked a dreamy look, as if he could already imagine her cooking skills… honestly, he could miss her amazing food if that meant staying away from that house as far as possible.

Oscar laughed when hearing that, "Well then it's settled, pack your stuff and we'll leave."

They all watched how Oz nodded and got up, no one said a word, they all just gazed at him when he left the room.

"Do you think he'll be alright…?" Gilbert softly said,

Sharon had a painful expression on her face, she glanced at Alice, whom had stopped with eating and was now just gazing at her place with a scowl on her face.

"Probably not…" Reim sighed, he glanced at Oscar and saw the guilty look on his face.

_This would never turn out well._


End file.
